Abstract

This article explores pleasure in terms of the values of independent judgement, writerly authority, originality and singularity associated with doctoral study. It also considers how pleasure can be understood as a mode of experience that acts as a force for change. Here, the article takes a broad Deleuzian approach that is concerned with our capacities to affect and be affected. The data presented illustrates the complexity of pleasure in academic work as it is experienced, as giving rise to guilt, anxiety and a felt lack of deservingness. It also illustrates moments of intellectual jouissance and the importance of imagined pleasures as a very necessary force of change. The conclusion returns to the conceptualization of pleasure at the heart of this article to provide a critical account of the potential of understanding pleasure in terms of change and values.